The Theme of Despair in a Selection of English South African Fiction : A
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THE THEME OF DESPAIR IN A SELECTION OF ENGLISH SOUTH AFRICAN FICTION: A STUDY OF MOOD AND FORM IN OLIVE SCHREINER'S THE STORY OF AN AFRICAN FARM, WILLIAM PLOMER'S TURBOTT WO L F E , PAULINE SMITH'S THE BEADLE, ALAN PATON'S CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY, DORIS LESSING'S THE GRASS IS SINGING, DAN JACOBSON'S THE TRAP AND A D AN C E IN TH E SUN (AND STORIES FRO M THROUG H T H E W I L D E R N E S S A N D II T H E S T R A N G E R " FROM A LONG WAY FROM LONDON [AND OTHER STORIES]), NADINE GORDIMER'S THE CONSERVATIONIST AND J. M . COETZE E Is IN TH E HEART OF THE COUNTR Y . Michael Joseph Le e University of Cape Town A Thes is s ubmitted to the Facul ty o f Arts, University of Cape Town , for the Degree of Master of Arts . Cape Town , 1 98 3 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town ABSTRACT In an analysis of seven major novels and two important novellas in English South African literature, this thesis attempts to highlight a common factor of philosophical despair present in varying degrees of intensity in these works. An interpre- -tation of possible causes for the widespread occurrence of this theme and mood in English South African literature shows that many South African novelists have seen the social and historical circumstances of the country as inimical to the cause of human fulfilment, from the time the literature really began to question the nature of life in the subcontinent, with the work of Olive Schreiner, to the present. A critical study of some of the best and most important fictional works in this literature, furthermore, reveals how the conflict between the quest for human fulfilment and this p e rceived environmental harshness has resulted in an intense integrity of vision , expressed more often than not as despair, which is the central i maginative link between these writers,locked in their common struggle to find meaning and hope in the lot of the colonial white man--and his descendants--in South Africa. These links are of sufficient tenacit y, and have powerful enough manifestations, to form the basis of a literary tradition. Despair is d e scribed by Existential philosophers such as Soren Kierkegaard and Paul Tillich as an unhealthy psychological s tate . Albert Camus understands despair in terms of an Existential experience of absurdity but develops a doctrine of courageous p essimism, which ·::: involves persisting in the face of invincible defeat in the campaign to be human. Despite Camus's notion of Existential perseverance, it is clear that despair is a dangerous state of mind for man to remain in: as Tillich suggests in The Courage To Be , it may well lead to the ultimate triumph of non-being, or death-in-life, over being, or life. If the focus here has been on the artistic, fictional effects of the manifestations of this mood and theme in the literature itself, this thesis made the assumption from the ou-tse t, following the critical lead of the likes of Henry J ames , D.H. Lawrence and F.R. Leavis, that the business of literature cannot be severed from the moral issues it raises, so that it was felt to be important to pay attention to the doctrines propounded by these writers in their attempt to explain a reality that first p rovided them with that dangerous potential for despair. PREFACE It soon becomes clear, after embarking upon a study of English South African literature, as I did in 1980 while reading for an , Honours degree in Englis h at this University, tha t the literature is permeated by pessimisti c outlooks on the situation, past or present as the case may be, in South Africa . The phenomenon seemed so ingrained a part of this literature , that the need to clarify it became a challenge. The project turned out to be a sounding-board for one's responses to issues this topic raised in one's own experience in South Africa, in addition to providing demanding work towards a Masters thesis. I have many people to thank for their part in this effort. Fir.stly. to Assoc. Professor Geoffrey Haresnape, I am deeply indebted, since it was he who did all the pioneering grow1dwork needed for the creation of that course on Southern African Literature (which first excited my inte rest in the topic of this thesis), and who supervised my shambolic draft work with an academic thoroughness that was as incisive as it was painstaking. Mr Victor Houliston kindly gave me a copy of his Masters thesis so that I could familiarise myself with the MLA format. Mrs Mally Fyfe enthusiastically, efficiently and good-naturedly typed the script of the thesis. I am also grateful to family members and friends who provoked me into finishing the M.A. by constantly asking me hciw far I had progressed. And lastly, to Hanlie, who cared more than enough, I owe my deepest gratitude. I wish to make it clear that the fact that the writers studied in this thesis are all white is in no way an indication of any prejudice against writers of other race groups . I originally selected texts for study on merit and then found I was dealing primarily with a certain kind of South African experience to do with the difficulties of the white man ' s relation to this part of Africa after his creation of what Leopold Senghor called, t alking about a different part of Africa , "the colonial fact". Finally, I would like to quote from Robert Frost's poem "The Gift Outright" and dedicate this thesis to South African writers whose work is an affirmation of an analogous "surrender", in particular, Alan Paton, Nadine Gordimer, Athol Fugard and J.M. Coetzee: But we were England's, still colonials , Possessing what we still were unpossessed by, Possessed by what we now no more possessed. Something we were withholding made us weak Until we found out that it was ourselves We were withholding from our land of living, And forthwith found salvation in surrender. CCNI'ENI'S Preface (iii) ~ (iv) CHAPTER ONE : CONCEPTS AND M8TIDIX)I.DGY 1 Introduction: Aims and Scope 1 A Critical Approach to Literature 6 A Critical Perspective on the Novel 7 Philosophical Premisses: Existentialism and a Definition of Despair 10 The Existentialist View of Life 12 Existentialist Despair: Kierkegaard and Tillich 16 Despair in the Fictional Life-Situation 20 CHAPTER '1WO: SCEPTICAL DESPAIR IN THE S'IDRY OF AN AFRICAN FARM A COLONIAL BEGINNING 21 Overview 21 Sceptical Despair and Allegory in The Story of an African Farra 27 Conclusion 39 CHAPI'ER THREE: THE SATIRIST'S DESPAIR IN TURBOIT WOLFE: A COLONIAL APCCALYPSE 44 Overview 44 The Satirist's Despair in Turbott Vblfe 47 Conclusion 64 CHAPTER FOUR : REDEMPTION FROM ,:THE DESPAIR OF SIN IN THE BEADLE 67 Overview 67 The Despair of Sin and its Redemption in The Beadle 69 Conclusion 92 CHAPTER FIVE: HOPE AND THE DESPAIR OF FEAR IN CRY, THE BELOVED COUNI'RY 94 Overview 94 lbpe and the Despair of Fear in Cry, the Beloved Country 100 Conclusion 114 CHAPTER SIX : THE DESPAIR OF ABSURDI'l.Y IN THE GRASS IS SINGING 117 Overview 117 The Cespair of Absurdity in The Grass is Singing 120 Conclusion 140 CHAPI'ER SE.VEN: DESPAIR, FurILITY, VIOLENCE AND ALIENATIOO IN THE TRAP AND A DANCE IN THE SlJN (WITH REFERENCE 'ID S'IDRIES IN THROUGH THE WIIDERNESS AND "THE Sl'RANGER" FROM A LONG WAY FROM LONIXN [ AND OI'HER Sl'ORIES] ) 144 Overview 144 Despair, Futility, Violence and Alienation ir1 a Selection of Jacobson's Fiction 146 Conclusion 168 CHAPI'ER EIGHI' : M'.)DERNISM AND THE DESPAIR OF CAPITALISM IN THE CDNSERVATIONISI' 171 Overview 171 Mcdernism and the Despair of Capitalism in The Conservationist 175 Conclusion 194 CHAPI'ER NINE : DEMYTHOI.(X;ISING CDIDNIALISM AND THE DESPAIR OF VACUITY IN IN THE HFARl' OF THE COUNrRY 196 Overview 196 Demythologising Colonialism and the Despair of Vacuity in In the Heart of the Country 200 Conclusion 226 CDNCLUSIOO 'ID THESIS 229 BIBLIOGRAPHY 234 1. CHAPTER ONE: CONCEPTS AND METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION AIMS AND SCOPE The aim of this thesis is to assess the prevalence of a philosophical pessimism in the mainstream of English South African novels. This will entail highlighting in this literature the ubiquity of the philosophical theme of despair as an expression and index of the most extreme pessimistic position. The effects of this phenomenon on the literature itself will then be considered. The main body of this thesis will be given to providing critical evidence of, and commentary on, the factor of despair in -a selection of representative and aesthetically accomplished ·, fictional works (mostly novels) in this field, namely: Olive Schreiner, The Story of an African Farm (1883); William Plamer, Turbott Wolfe (1926); Pauline Smith, The Beadle (1926); Alan Paton, Cry,the Beloved Country (1948); Doris Less ing, The Grass is Singing (1950); Dan Jacobson, The Trap and A Dance in the Sun (1955) and some stories from Through the Wilderness (1973); Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist (1974) and J.M.